Carter: All Blacks out to avenge cup horror

ALL BLACKS legend Dan Carter says his old team are out to avenge their World Cup loss to England.

New Zealand are on a six-game winning streak following a shock home loss to Argentina in August. They are odds-on favourites to win at Twickenham where they last lost a decade ago.

But front of mind is their comprehensive semi-final defeat by England in Yokohama when last the nations met.

Carter (above), who won 10 of his 11 Tests against the ‘mother country’, said: “When you have a defeat like that, the one thing you want to do is play against that opposition again.

“Knowing some of the players who were involved in that game, there will be some personal motivation going on there.

“There are players who have been a part of successful World Cups for New Zealand, so being part of a losing World Cup team really does hurt.

“They will have an extra edge for this game.”

Like Owen Farrell, who wins his 100th cap this evening, Carter brought up his century in this very fixture nine years ago.

Another reason Twickenham warms his heart is it was there in 2015 that he brought the curtain down on his career with World Cup final victory over Australia.

But today is about the current generation and the fly-half great said: “New Zealand will have targeted England in this autumn series and will have been building towards it as if it were a World Cup final. “To beat England at Twickenham in their last Test match of the year… it’s a huge game for them.”